The Melbourne Tool Company’s Low-Angle Block Plane

Melbourne Tool Company’s low-angle block plane is well cast, finished, and machined.

If I had to select my favorite woodworking tool, it would have to be the low-angle block plane. Indeed, I used to throw one, along with a pocket bevel gauge and a folding boxwood rule, into my backpack as a bit of travel insurance that allowed me to make some needed cash in far-flung locations such as western Ireland and Tampico, Mexico.

Block planes come in two different styles: “high” or “standard” plane-bed angle (in the 20-degree ballpark) and “low” bed angle (12 to 13 degrees). The high-angle version is the most common and the one most likely to be found at your local hardware store. Its steeper cutting angle works best on figured woods and dense hardwoods. The low-angle model cuts end-grain and softwoods better. The actual cutting angle is the combined angle of both the bed and the blade’s edge bevel. For example, if a plane has a bed angle of 12 degrees and comes standard with a blade (or “iron”) sharpened to 25 degrees, it will provide an effective cutting angle of 37 degrees. The user can sharpen alternate blades to steeper angles to afford the same benefits as a high-angle block plane. The lower angle reduces the tool’s profile and makes it more comfortable to hold and use. For fashioning planks on small craft, a well-made low-angle block plane is hard to beat.

I like shopping for hand tools in person. Simply holding the implement can say a lot about whether you will enjoy using it—or not. You can engage the adjusting mechanisms and see how accurate they are and how smoothly they work. The quality of the casting can be inspected and evaluated. You can sight the run of the sole and place it on a dead-flat surface to assure that it, too, is dead-flat. And so on.

Purchasing from catalogs or online can be challenging because the product descriptions tend to be glowing and, quite frankly, at first glance the darned tools pretty much all look the same. Some venerable brands such as Lie-Nielson and Veritas are generally ready-to-go, out-of-the-box, with just a quick blade sharpening. Other brands may require tuning and lapping of the sole on a diamond stone. Then there is the reliability of the adjustments—that is, how easily and precisely the blade travels back and forth, how effectively and reliably the lever cap secures the blade, and how the adjustment mechanism deals with lateral movement, or skew. Most (but not all) low-angle planes have a sliding front “toe” that lets you close the mouth in front of the blade to help prevent tear-out of difficult stock or open it up to clear predictable stock, as when planing a bevel into a cedar plank or tuning up a pine construction mold.

The depth-of-cut mechanism is precise, with little or no slop.

Which brings us to the new kid on the block: the Melbourne Tool Company (MTC) 49407 low-angle block plane. MTC is a tool design and production brand of the woodworking retailer Timbecon, based in Melbourne, Australia. Their product literature notes that their “tools are developed by industrial designers who have strong practical woodworking experience. They perform real-world testing in tough Australian timbers, producing a tool that will excel in any wood, anywhere.” Their tools are developed in Melbourne and manufactured in Asia.

On the sample I received, the body and parts were clean, well cast and manufactured, and fit properly. It has a comfortable feel to the hand. The ⅛″-thick cutting iron is made of M2 high-speed steel ground to 25 degrees. (Additional irons ground to 38 degrees and 50 degrees are available.)

The cutting iron is made of high-speed steel and ground to 25 degrees. The brass lever cap that holds it in place is locked down by a knurled wheel.

One-third of the way down the iron are two holes, one of which engages the pin of the “Norris-style” front-to-back depth adjuster when you turn the lever cap wheel. (The mechanism also swivels to square the blade to the mouth.) Slide it side-to-side to skew the blade within the plane mouth. There is little slop in the threads when you turn that wheel. This system is similar to the one used on the Veritas block plane. It seems to work well, and the depth-of-cut setting is precise.

The brass lever cap that keeps the cutting iron in place is locked down by a knurled wheel or thumb nut on the after end of the lever cap. It presses a pin securely against the iron for the operation, and the wheel was easily accessible to the hand—which is not always the case with planes).

The mouth opening adjusting “toe” is similar to that found on other block planes and is well fitted. Melbourne Tool’s comprehensive online owner’s manual is among the best I’ve seen.

And how did the plane perform? In short, very well. On white pine and white oak, the tool produced clean cuts without chattering or plugging up. It was quite comfortable to use. At the advertised price it is a good value. 

Greg Rössel is a contributing editor for WoodenBoat.

The MTC 49407 Low Angle Block Plane is available from The Wooden­Boat Store (www.woodenboatstore.com ) for $99.